Bella and the Firsts of Forks
by ILOVEYOUEDWARDCULLEN
Summary: Bella Swan moves to a new town and instantly falls in love... but how far will she go to prove that she is more than just the girl next door?
1. First Friends

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I hope it turns out okay

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I hope it turns out okay. Please review!

Chapter 1: First Friend

I looked through the wet passenger seat window of the UHAUL van that my father had rented. Today we were making the move from my lifelong home of Phoenix, Arizona to the small, rainy town of Forks, Washington. Looking through the downpour that I knew I would have to grow accustomed to, I wished that my mother were here.

She died a year ago due to leukemia. My dad, Charlie, tried to keep us in our beautiful house as long as he could, but without my mother's income to help with finances, we almost fell into debt.

Which brings me here, the greenest place on Earth. Thought I would really miss the warm sun, I resolved not to complain, knowing that it was just as hard for Charlie to relocate as it is for me. Besides, it isn't as if I didn't see it coming. To be perfectly honest, I figured that our home would be foreclosed before Charlie actually sold it.

The rain let up and soon afterward, the van came to a stop in front of our new home. It was nowhere as vast as my old house, but it did look warm and inviting.

"This is it, kiddo. I didn't do too badly, did I?" Charlie asked.

"It's really nice, dad. Let's start unpacking." I assured him with a smile.

Two days later, everything in my new house was unpacked and in it's place. I found that I really liked it here- it was perfect for just Charlie and I. Looking at the interior, you would think that we have been here three years instead of three days. With the hard work of settling in over, I decided that I could maybe relax a little. So I gathered an old blanket from the linen closet and my battered copy of _Wuthering Heights_, ready to spend a few hours in what was sure to be a short- lived sunlight.

Just as I touched the doorknob, a knock sounded, making me jump. I put my things down by the door. Once my heart rate got back to normal, I opened the door. On my front porch stood a pixie-like girl with short hair. Her eyes were wide with excitement and she smiled up at me.

"Hi! I'm Alice! I live next door to you," she said, pointing to the house to the right of mine. "And I saw you move in." she said. She was really spunky for somebody so tiny.

"Oh… um, hi. I'm Bella." I said. We stood there for a moment in awkward silence.

"Do you want to come in?" I asked, remembering to be polite.

"Thanks." She replied. I led her to the living room and we both sat down on the couch.

"Sorry about just sort of showing up on your doorstep. Everyone always tells me that I get over excited sometimes. It's just a rare occasion that anyone new comes to town, especially someone my age." she admitted.

"Hey, it's fine. I'm glad that you decided to introduce yourself. It will be easier starting school on Monday knowing somebody already."

"Exactly! What grade are you in? I'm a junior." she asked, getting really excited now.

"So aren't I." I said, relieved.

For the next hour, Alice informed me about all of the teachers and students at Forks High, and which cafeteria foods to stay away from. In return, I told her all about my life in Phoenix, and all about why I came to Forks. I admitted that I was a little nervous about going to school the following Monday.

"Oh, don't be!" she assured me. "You're already a lot smarter than the airheads and idiots that go to our school, anyways. I can just feel that you'll be fine." She tapped her temple. "I know these things." she whispered jokingly.

"Thanks, Alice. I'm still a little nervous though. I mean, I could really use some new clothes…" I trailed off, frowning as I thought about my thin tank tops and shorts that I wore in Arizona.

Alice eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. "We should go shopping! I've been meaning to get out and update my wardrobe a little, too."

I laughed. "Okay. But where does everyone get clothes around here? It doesn't look like there a lot of stores." Alice just rolled her eyes. "Of course not, silly. We can drive to Port Angeles and go to the mall." she said.

So that is what I ended up doing the day before school started. I rang the doorbell to Alice's house at about one o' clock on Sunday. Alice greeted me and we went up to her room, where a very pretty blonde girl sat on the bed, looking very impatient.

"Bella, this is my friend, Rosalie. Rosalie, this is Bella, my new neighbor." Rosalie looked over at me and smiled. "Hey. Welcome to town." she said. The girl seemed nice enough. "Thanks." I smiled back.

"Now that we all know each other, Bella, Rosalie is going to go shopping with us today." Alice said.

"Or at least that's what I came over to do. If Alice would just hurry up we could go." she said.

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! I just have to put a little makeup on." A few minutes later and we were on our way to the mall.

It's not that I hated shopping. I just hated malls. Back in Phoenix, all people between the ages of eleven and eighteen went there to hang out on weekends. Maybe the first person to even think of a mall had designed it to be a place where the consumer could get many of the things they needed in one place, no matter what your style is. I'd hate to burst that person's bubble, but what they really created was a mass machine that crawled with teenagers. I would completely detest places like this, and I never did hang out in one.

And yet, here I stand in the middle of Hollister. If I had any clue what I would be getting myself into, I would absolutely have frozen to death in my summer clothes rather than be in this store. The place was way too dark and smelt so strongly that I had to sneeze. But that isn't even the worst part. I look around at all of the teenaged skinny blonde girls as they shuffle through shelves of overpriced jeans. I feel scared. The only thing that makes me feel like I am in the real world instead of California is the music that plays.

"Bella aren't you going to find something to buy?" Rose asked me.

"You mean in this store? Uh, no." I said. I looked at the various pile of clothes draped over her arm and realized that this might offend her.

"Not that there's anything wrong with this store. It's just… not really my style." I backtracked.

She just shrugged and went over to the dressing rooms where Alice already was. I sighed and decided that standing around probably made me look stupid, so I started walking around the store. As I passed the cash register, I noticed a screen in the wall next to the counter. It was like a jukebox and had a bunch of bands that I loved. I pressed one of the songs I loved, "Crush, Crush, Crush" by Paramore. After the song that was already playing ended it came on. At least this could keep me occupied.

By the time that Alice and Rosalie were done trying things on, I had already played three songs after Paramore. "Oh, that's where you've been." Alice said. "We're just about done here. We only have to pay now."

I nodded and waited for them to finish. When we left the store, Alice noticed that I hadn't bought anything. "Bella, you haven't gotten anything from any of the shops we went to. Not Abercrombie, not American Eagle, not Hollister. I thought that you needed new clothes."

I shrugged. "I don't really like what they had there. Not for me anyway. I'm not into preppy clothes."

"Okay, fine. What type of clothes do you prefer then?" she asked.

"Well I kind of wanted to check out Hot Topic or something…" I said.

Rosalie and Alice gave each other a look that told me that they didn't really _do_ Hot Topic. "Okay, if that's what you want, Bella..." Rose said apprehensively.

I thought about telling them that it was fine, to go check out the GAP or something while I shopped. But then I remembered the last three stores that they dragged me through. Maybe I would let my evil side come out today…

With that, we walked together to the store. I rolled my eyes as they slowly crossed the threshold, cautiously looking around as if something would jump out at them.

"Come on you guys, you're not entering the vampire's crypt or something." I teased.

I took my time checking out the clothes and accessories around the store on purpose. I watched as Alice picked up an over the top knee high platform boot with wide eyes and laughed. Turning away, I decided to grab up a few cool tee shirts and try them on. The first was a Boys Like Girls tee shirt, because I loved that band. The second shirt was black and had Hello Kitty's face in the corner. I secretly loved Hello Kitty, what can I say? The last was a long sleeved blue shirt with a black lacey tank top attached underneath. It wasn't so revealing that I wasn't comfortable with it, but still nice. I decided that I would buy all three. I was almost pulling my old shirt back over my head when a pair of jeans flew over the top of the dressing room curtain and hit me on the head.

"Hey!" I said. "What gives?"

I heard giggles and Rose telling me to "Just try them on, Bella."

Okay, fine. I removed the jeans draped over my head and looked at them. Ha. Skinny jeans? They should be able to tell that I am just too short to wear those. To avoid the wrath of Alice, I quickly tried them on. I was surprised to see that they actually fit nicely. They sat just right on my narrow hips and were just the right length. How is this possible? It didn't matter. I was getting them.

I emerged from the dressing room with my finds and what I saw shocked me. Alice and Rosalie had actually picked out a few things of their own. I raised my eyebrows and looked pointedly at the items in their arms. They just shrugged.

"This store isn't so bad after all." Rosalie said.

Now I felt a little bad. At the other stores I was forced to go into with them, I didn't even make an effort to see if I liked anything. I was warded off by the preppy feeling in the air. At least they actually looked around, let alone found things that they liked.

Oh, well. I did say that I was being evil today, right?

I found a few pairs of earrings, a pair of pink converse, and a new CD that I wanted to buy along with my other clothes. We all cashed out and left the store, satisfied. I didn't even notice that we were walking in the opposite direction of the parking lot we came in from until it was too late.

They slowly came to a stop in front of Aeropostale. This store wasn't as preppy or pricey as the other ones, but it still looked way too girly. I turned to Alice and Rosalie, who proceeded to beg me to go and just take a look around. Since they wouldn't quit harassing me, I finally gave in.

Some evil side I have. They get new accessories and clothes from my little plan and what do I get? A trip to yet _another_ preppy store. The fun just never ends, does it?

Despite myself, I went inside and actually did have a look around. I found some cool hoodies. I got them even though they said the name of the store across the chest. At least they weren't all pink. I also decided that one pair of jeans isn't enough for a rainy place like Forks. So I let the girls pick a few pairs of jeans for me. They got me some nice distressed ones and when I tried them on they were actually kind of comfortable.

"There, are you happy? I got some clothes." I said as we put our shopping bags in the trunk of Alice's car minutes later. I was more than glad to be out of the mall. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be back in a long, long time.


	2. First Day

A/N: The last chapter was kind of fluffy, but I had to start the story off somewhere

A/N: The last chapter was kind of fluffy, but I had to start the story off somewhere! Don't worry… Edward is coming…

Chapter 2: Encounter

I took a deep breath as I stepped out of the backseat of Alice's car. Today was my first day at Forks High School. I tugged on the bottom of my new Hello Kitty tee shirt nervously. I had never been one to care much about what other people thought about me, but I found myself hoping that I fit in. Alice assured me that my pink converse and Aeropostale jeans all looked "acceptable enough" to the ways that kids dressed here, though I knew that my style was somewhat unique.

I walked alongside Alice, who was now leading me towards the main office. Along the way, she pointed out various need-to-knows as we passed them. We walked by two girls who were chatting against their lockers. When they saw Alice, they narrowed their eyes and crossed their arms. Ignoring them, Alice told me, "That's Lauren and Jessica. Stay away from them, as they are the essence of all evil."

"Snobs, right. I know how to spot them pretty well. There were a lot of them at my old school." I said.

"That's good. You know how to deal." she concluded. We came to a stop in front of what was the main office door. "I have to get to homeroom now, but maybe we will have a class together."

"Okay, well I'll see you at lunch if we don't, right?" She shot me an apologetic look.

"Well… actually, my brothers and I have a doctor's appointment during lunch today. But don't worry, Rosalie will be here and you can sit with her and my boyfriend Jasper, too."

I groaned. "Alice, you could've told me sooner! And your boyfriend? I don't even know him!"

She rolled her eyes. "Relax! Jasper is really nice and not only is he my boyfriend, but he's Rosalie's brother, too. She'll introduce you guys." She gave me a quick hug before telling me that she'd see me later.

And now I was on my own. I opened the door and walked over to what I assumed to be the secretary's desk. She glanced up at me. "You must be Isabella Swan. Welcome."

How did she know my name already? I must have given her a confused look because she smiled sheepishly. "Small town knowledge, dear." she informed me. Giving me a schedule and some basic forms to complete, she sent me on my way.

I trudged through the early morning rainfall, making my way to the science building. This is where room 32, my new homeroom was located. I wrenched open the classroom door when I reached it, wanting to get this over with. Like ripping off a band aid. Every head turned toward me, as expected. I figured that this would happen for two reasons. One being that I was the new girl and two being that due to my trip to the office, I was coming in later than everyone else.

Flushed, I quickly scanned the room for Alice. No such luck. But of course, sitting towards the back, were the two girls that Alice had warned me about earlier. I hoped that they would just ignore me. I didn't exactly feel up to dealing with girls like these on my first day here.

Instead of looking at the other kids, who were most definitely looking at me; I focused on making it to the teacher's desk without falling flat on my face. I introduced myself and he just nodded and told me to find a seat.

For a second time, I scanned the room. There were two empty seats. The first was front and center, a place neither the geekiest nor vision impaired student ventured to. It was between a skinny boy with acne and braces who sat with his hands folded atop his desk and an overweight girl who proceeded to pick her nose with her pinkie, stare at it quizzically, and eat it. No thank you.

The second option was much more promising. It was on the right side of the room, next to a window. There was a blonde boy with shaggy hair in the seat to the left who had sat sideways in order to talk to the girl next to him. Then I looked to the right. A boy was bent over, tying his converse all stars. I decided to take that seat.

I made it all the way to right in front of my feet. But blonde boy's leg was apparently sticking out in the middle of the aisle, causing me to trip. I would have gone down had it not been for catching myself on my desk. The girl that the boy was talking to giggled, which was the only reason that he even turned around.

"Sorry" he mumbled and turned around again to resume their conversation. I glared at the back of his head before taking my seat.

"Don't worry about him." came a voice from beside me. I turned to see that the boy who was tying his shoes was speaking to me. "He's so dense that he probably hasn't even registered that he tripped you yet."

I tried to respond. Really, I did. But I was too lost in his deep green eyes. This boy was _gorgeous_! He had messy bronze hair, a crooked smile, and of course, those previously mentioned green eyes. _And_ he was talking to _me_! The whole time I thought all of this, Adonis (his new temporary nickname) just sat there looking at me, expecting an answer. Once I actually realized this, I did manage to mumble out a "thanks".

"I'm Edward, by the way." Adonis said. I mean, Edward said.

"I'm Bella… but you probably already knew that." I replied. As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I probably sounded like a snob who expected everyone to know who she was. I blushed furiously and looked down at my desk.

Apparently, Edward understood what I meant because he just laughed. "I know what you mean, and you're right." He said, confirming my beliefs. "Everyone has been talking about you for weeks. People went crazy when they found out that somebody actually bought a house here. Welcome to the highly entertaining town of Forks!" He laughed.

I was about to open my mouth to respond when the bell rang. Everyone got up and chatter filled the halls as students moved to their first period classes. "See you later, Bella." Edward said before walking out the door. I hoped that this was true.


	3. First Enemy

A/N: Sorry for the short last chapter, but don't worry it all leads up to some awesome drama sooner or later…

A/N: Sorry for the short last chapter, but don't worry it all leads up to some awesome drama sooner or later…

Chapter 3

I heard Charlie come in after his first day working as a police officer in Forks. The job wasn't as high paying as it was in Phoenix, but our expenses weren't as high costing, either. When he entered the kitchen and saw me pulling a chicken out of the oven and finishing up the rice on the stove, he wasn't the least bit surprised. Even before my mother, who hadn't been too great in the kitchen, had died, I was always whipping up meals.

"How was your first day, Bells?" Charlie asked. He seemed to be much more energetic now than at his old job; I suspected that Forks didn't have a high crime rate, if one at all…

"It was okay." I said. But to be honest, the whole day was I was distracted. I hadn't managed to trip and talk to any more cute boys. There I was, thinking about him again. _He_ was the reason that my day was so clouded over. I couldn't seem to get my mind off of Edward. Alice had not been in any of my classes, either.

I wish that she had been.

Throughout the entire day, as I navigated the halls and sat quietly in my classes, everyone stared at me. Edward was right; this town really wasn't very entertaining at all. A new girl moves to town and you would think that I was a celebrity. I didn't like it; it made me feel like everyone was talking about me.

I also had the feeling that people found it hard to approach me. I didn't know why, it wasn't like I was intimidating or anything. Alice told me that I was dressed okay, so I knew that it wasn't the way I looked. Oh, well, I thought. I didn't care about what people thought of me at my old school, so why start here?

Lunch wasn't any better, not by a long shot. Once I navigated my way to the cafeteria, Rose was already outside the door waiting for me. "Thanks for waiting for me; I feel like I have three heads the way people have been staring at me all day."

Rosalie just shot me a confused expression. "Don't you enjoy the attention?" she asked.

Um, no. Not at all, I thought. I was about to say this aloud, but right then, Lauren walked past me, shoving hard into my shoulder as she passed. "Oops!" she said in a fake innocent voice, though her face showed that she hated me. But why? I knew nothing about this girl and she knew nothing about me, so how could she hate me? I had never even spoken to her in my life.

I knew that if I struck back, things would go downhill. This was the type of drama that snobs like her lived for. I would not give in. I wouldn't, but apparently Rosalie would.

"What is your problem?" she whirled on Lauren.

"My problem? It's your little friend over there with the superiority complex going on." Lauren snarled and nodded at me.

Superiority complex? Okay, this girl was deranged. Even if I did think that I was better than everybody else, which I didn't, this girl wouldn't know it. I had barely talked to anybody in class besides in homeroom, and even then, I hadn't said anything cocky, had I?

"What are you _talking_ about?" I spoke up. She shot me an evil glare with narrowed eyes.

"'I'm Bella, but you probably already knew that'" she said in what I guessed was supposed to be my voice.

And that's when I remembered. Lauren and Jessica were in my homeroom class and they must have overheard my conversation with Edward. Crap! Lauren had misinterpreted what I had said (misinterpreted or twisted). Exactly what I had thought Edward would do- and made me seem like I was stuck up. I looked around and everyone was stopping what they were doing and watching us now. This put me over the edge.

"Actually, _Lauren_, all that I meant when I had said that was that everyone here seems to somehow know who I am and won't quit looking at me like I'm on display! What is with that? More importantly, what is with _you_? You already appear to hate me and I haven't spoken to you before this, or ever even known who you were up until seven o'clock this morning! If I'm not mistaken, it seems to me that you're the one with a demented superiority complex here, not me!"

I was in a rage. I didn't care that everyone was now staring at me with wide eyes, or that Lauren looked as if she wanted to rip my head off. She didn't even open her mouth to respond. At that, I turned to Rosalie, who had a look of shock and impressibility on her face. She also looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Let's go, Bella." She said, and together we walked out of the café, leaving our peers and my new enemy behind.

All riled up, I forgot one thing.

"Where are we going?" I asked. But my question was answered when we stopped in front of a row of lockers that I assumed contained hers.

"Jasper, my brother was in there. Now we just have to wait for him to catch up with us. He was waiting for us." She said in an offhand voice. I felt bad, though, for leaving him in there without telling him where we were going. Not that I knew we were even going to go, or where we were going to.

But no worries, because just then, Jasper showed up. "You could have told me that you were going to storm out like that, Rosalie!" he said. Okay, so I felt bad again.

"Oh, yeah, because I really knew that was going to happen! Besides, I saw your lunch was gone anyways." Rosalie argued. "By the way, this is Bella. Bella this is Jasper."

"Hey" we said to each other. He extended a hand towards me and I shook it.

"That was crazy back in there! Nobody has ever stood up to Lauren like that before! If you were known for being the new girl before, you're a legend now!" Jasper said.

I knew that he was trying to praise me, but for some reason, this statement made me feel no better. Now people would be talking about me even more. When they looked at me like I was involved in some kind of scandal, there would be a reason behind it. Great. All this good luck on my first day.

I neglected to tell Charlie any of this, though. He probably didn't want to hear about it, and I didn't want to tell him. So I asked him about his day at the police station instead.

"Nothing of interest, kid. Believe it or not, there isn't too much trouble around here" he said sarcastically.

_Not outside the high school cafeteria_,_ anyway_, I thought. We sat in the same old silence for a while until I heard the phone ring. It was probably Alice calling to ask me about my day. I'd bet that she already knew about what happened at lunch today with Lauren.

"I'll get it!" I jumped up from the table and ran to the phone.

"Better not be any boys!" Charlie yelled jokingly from behind me. I looked at the caller ID and I had been right, it was Alice. As soon as I picked up the phone, even before I had the chance to say hello, Alice screamed in my ear.

"YOU HAVE TO COME OVER **NOW**! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! OF COURSE I WASN'T THERE FOR IT!! YOU **HAVE TO COME OVER **_**NOW**_!" and I heard a click. She hung up. She was very demanding, I laughed to myself. I went back to the kitchen.

"Dad, is it okay if I go next door to the hang out with Alice for a little while?" I asked.

Charlie grinned at me, obviously pleased that I had made new friends so fast. "Sure, Bells. Have a great time. And don't even worry about the dishes, I'll do them tonight."

I smiled back and nodded. I put on my shoes and a sweatshirt and walked out the door, mentally preparing myself to be attacked with questions. I rang the doorbell of her house and surprisingly, Alice was not the person who answered. Instead, I was greeted by a burly boy with dark curly hair.

"You must be Bella! Alice has been going off the walls for the past 5 minutes since she found out about what you did at school today. That was really cool, by the way! But if I were you, I would have punched her in the face." He was grinning, but I had the feeling that he wasn't joking.

"Thanks…" I trailed off, indicating for his name.

"I'm Emmett, Alice's bro-" he was cut off and I heard somebody squeal "IS SHE HERE?" Alice, of course. I then heard her pounding on Emmett's back to get past him, but he stood there like a brick wall laughing at her. I couldn't help but laugh, too.

"I am calling Rosalie and telling her you play with Barbie and Ken and pretend it is you and her!" Alice threatened. Emmett's face was suddenly serious and he quickly ran away, probably to hide every phone in the house.

With Alice in full view now, she squeezed me into a hug. "Come in, come in! Let's go get some snacks and then you can tell me everything!" she said. I laughed.

"Okay, Alice." So we went to the kitchen where we made some popcorn and got ourselves some sodas. Then she led me to her living room and turned on the radio. The latest Britney Spears screamed out at us, but Alice was too excited to hear my story to notice and change the station.

I gave her a weird look. "Do you mind if I change this?" I asked. I didn't even notice that I was being rude. Britney Spears and I didn't mix. "Sure, sure, just come on and tell me what happened!" she urged me. I put the station to my favorite and "The Curse of Curves" by Cute Is What We Aim For came on. I took a deep breath and told Alice everything.

"That is amazing, Bella!" she said. "You'll like, go down in history!"

I groaned. "I wished that everyone would stop saying that! I don't want everyone to know about me! It was bad enough before!"

Alice frowned. "Bella, if you really didn't want everyone to know about it, then why did you have an outburst in front of the entire school?" she asked. Then she saw the look on my face. "I mean, uh, you're fine! It's not so bad, and it's a good thing that you did what you did, because people will take you seriously and respect you. Already on your first day, too! See, it's not so bad."

I smiled. "Thanks, Alice. You're right. That's exactly what I needed to hear." Alice's cell phone rang and she looked down at the caller ID. She flipped it open and began to talk to somebody. I went to take a sip of my soda, but found that it was empty.

"I'm gonna get more soda. Want one?" I whispered to her. She nodded and continued her conversation. I made my way to the kitchen again. When I entered, there was somebody looking through the cabinets. It must have been Alice's other brother, I decided. Not wanting to hear any more of "I heard about lunch", I turned back around and tried to quietly tiptoe out of the room. I was almost free when I heard a velvet voice from behind me.

"Bella?"

I froze. I had only heard the voice once before, but I knew it instantly. I turned around slowly, and I was right.

_Edward_.

A/N: some good stuff about to happen… but not in this chapter. Review and _maybe_ I'll let you find out… **please?** (pouts)


	4. First Almost Kiss

A/N: Okay, so I got 9 reviews and as you can tell, it doesn't take a lot to make me happy

A/N: Okay, so I got 9 reviews and as you can tell, it doesn't take a lot to make me happy! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!! (My evil threat worked!). For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the Edward.

Chapter 4

I was almost free when I heard a velvet voice from behind me.

"Bella?"

I froze. I had only heard the voice once before, but I knew it instantly. I turned around slowly, and I was right.

_Edward_.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, confused. But Edward just gave me a strange look.

"I _live _here." He said. Oh, wow. At first I felt extremely idiotic. Obviously he was Alice's other brother! It's just that when I saw him, my brain kind of went dead for a second. Yeah, like I said, extremely idiotic.

Then I felt pleased. I was pleased because Edward and I would be seeing a lot more of each other than I had even hoped. Because not only did he live right next door to me, but he was also in my homeroom. On top of that, I was best friends with his sister, so I would be spending time over his house often, and when I thought about it, he probably sat with us at lunch, too.

I was thinking of all of this and only when I heard Edward clear his throat was I snapped out of my haze. We were just standing in the middle of his kitchen, saying nothing. I blushed furiously and he laughed.

"Deep in thought?" he asked me. I didn't know what to say, so I just blushed some more and managed to let out a nervous laugh. He took the cover off of the container that he had just taken out of the fridge and I saw that it was Jell- O.

"Want some?" he asked.

"No, thanks. Actually, I just came in to get me and Alice some more sodas." I said. He nodded and went to the refrigerator again, emerging with two cans of Pepsi. He walked towards me and handed me the cans. When I took them from him, our fingers brushed. We both looked away, embarrassed, but Edward did not move back to his spot at the counter.

"So, what are you and Alice up to?" he asked.

"She just got through bombarding me with questions about what happened at school."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that you had to be tortured that way," he laughed. "But if it helps, I think that it is really cool what you did. It takes a lot to stand up to Lauren. Maybe you've gotten her to shut up for good, and if that's the case, you have become my new best friend." He joked. I laughed.

For some reason that was beyond me, I liked it when he complimented my standing up to the mean girl of Forks.

"Well, do you mind if I join you guys?" Edward asked me.

"Of course not! It is your house, anyways." I answered.

So we walked back to the living room and I saw Alice playing with the remote control to the radio, trying to change the station. Frustrated, she threw it down.

"Alice? What are you doing?" I asked. The last song had ended and now "On Top of the World" by Boys Like Girls came on.

Alice turned to me and saw Edward next to me and her eyes widened.

"What?" I asked, and glanced over at Edward. He had a confused look on his face.

"What are you listening to? You don't even like this station." He said.

"Um, no, no, Bella put this on. I was just trying to change it and then your CD came on, and I was messing with it, and I hate this stereo!" she complained, exasperated.

All of a sudden, Edward burst out laughing. I just stared at the two of them. Okay, so maybe the Cullens had lost their marbles.

"What is so funny?" I asked.

"It's just-can't-even work a stereo system- not that hard!" He got out between laughs. He finally stopped laughing. "Sorry, you must think I have mental problems or something. Uh… well, Alice is really smart and everything, but see, this sort of thing has happened before. Like the time when she-"

He was cut off by Alice. "Shut UP, Edward! That was a long time ago! And I wouldn't be talking, should I go show Bella that picture of you and that toilet bowl?" she threatened. Threatening her siblings seemed to be a forte of Alice's. Edward ran over and put his hand over her mouth before she could say any more to embarrass him. She slapped his hand away and stormed out of the room.

I just stood there, not knowing whether or not to follow after her or not. Like a mind reader, Edward said "Better leave her alone for a while." And sat down on the couch. I sat with him and my favorite song, "Thunder" came on.

"What did you have on before? She said that you put something on." He asked.

"It was an alternative station." I said.

"Oh, so that's why she was changing it. She hates alternative. Mostly she listens to whatever is on the Top 40 Countdown." Edward chuckled.

"Really? I didn't know that. But this is your CD that's on right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, it must have been in there already and she pressed the wrong button I guess." He said.

"I'm glad she did, because Boys Like Girls are my favorite band. Actually this is my favorite song." I said.

"They are a good band. I like your shoes by the way." He said. I looked down at my pink converse low tops.

"Really? Wanna try them on? I think that pink would be nice on you!" I joked.

He laughed. "No, thanks, I'm good." He said, pointing to his own black converse. "So, Bella. How was your first day, besides that whole fiasco at lunch?"

"It went okay but it was kind of boring otherwise. And awkward." I said.

"What was awkward about it?" he asked.

"Well, first, everybody knew my name, I tripped in front of the homeroom, which you can probably recall, and everybody kept looking at me all day, but nobody really talked to me."

"Besides me." He said.

"Besides you. Thanks for that, by the way. You could have just made me feel even more stupid by laughing at me or something when I tripped. I am a pretty big klutz." I admitted. He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It was cute how you blushed." He said.

Right on cue, I felt my face get hot. Edward was staring right at me now with a small crooked grin smirk on his face. Unexpectedly, he leaned forward and- oh my god he was going to kiss me!

Right then, Emmett came into the room. "HEY BELLA!" he boomed and I jumped and fell off the couch. Emmett was laughing and Edward, looking embarrassed, helped me get back to my feet and we both stood up. Rosalie was there, too and she looked at me with a knowing look, her eyebrows raised.

"God, Emmett! You scared us!" I yelled.

"What do you want?" Edward said.

"Relax, relax! I just wanted to say hi!" Emmett said.

Edward groaned and plopped back down on the couch.

"Um, I think I'll just go. I have to get back to Charlie."

"Wait. Where's Alice?" asked Rosalie. I looked at Edward and he just sighed. "ALICE! BELLA'S LEAVING!" he yelled. A second later, Alice came downstairs.

"Okay, Bella. I'll see you tomorrow morning." She said.

"Okay. Bye, Alice, Rose, Emmett, Edward." I said. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

I walked out the door and crossed the yard to my own front door. "Dad, I'm home!" I yelled. He was in the living room watching a baseball game. "Okay, Bells. Have fun?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm just going to go upstairs and go to bed." I told him. But I doubted that I would get much sleep that night. As I put on my pajamas and brushed my teeth, all I could think about was what would have happened if Emmett and Rosalie hadn't walked in when they did.


	5. AUTHORS NOTE

A/N:

A/N:

I may not be able to post for a couple of days , sorry guys. It most likely won't delay me getting out the next chapter, but just in case, I wanted to let everybody know… a family member of mine has had an accident and I'm not sure what's going on just yet so please just bear with me.

Love, ILOVEYOUEDWARDCULLEN


	6. First Fight

A/N: You know the drill

A/N: You know the drill.

Chapter 5

To my surprise, last night, I did sleep. Not so much to my surprise, I dreamed. Three guesses what I dreamed about.

I walked out the door and I was greeted by rain and a silver Volvo in my driveway. I was confused. Alice was supposed to drive me to school everyday, but this wasn't the car that she used yesterday. As I got closer to the car, I saw that Alice wasn't the one driving it. Edward was. I looked in the back to see if Alice was there, but no, Edward was the only one in the car.

I got into the passenger seat and shut the door. "What's going on? Wasn't Alice supposed to pick me up?"

"Good morning to you, too." He chuckled. "Yes, she was supposed to pick you up, but usually, Emmett brings Rosalie to school and his car won't start so Alice had to bring them both _and_ Jasper _and_ normally she brings me, too. My parents make us all carpool. But that would mean that you couldn't fit into the car, so I offered to drive you myself."

"Oh. Okay. I was just wondering. That was quite the earful." I joked.

"You are okay with this, right?" Edward said.

"Sure. I just didn't expect it. I don't mind being around you." I said.

He grinned. "I am very happy to hear that, because I enjoy being around you." Of course I blushed. Which triggered the memory of what happened yesterday, which made me blush even deeper. I looked out the window. It was silent for a little while until Edward spoke up again.

"Hey, yesterday you said that you loved Boys Like Girls. I just got this new CD the other day, tell me what you think." He popped a disc into the CD player and I immediately recognized "Loser" by Cute Is What We Aim For.

"Cute Is What We Aim For! Is this the new CD? I've been meaning to get it, but I don't know where the music store is around here. If there actually is one, that is." I said.

"You like them?" Edward asked.

"I love them! I know all the words to all the songs from the first album."

"So don't I." he said. We were already at the school, pulling into a parking space now. Edward turned the car off.

"Thanks for the ride. And you have a pretty good taste in music, too." I smiled.

"Anytime." I nodded and began to open the car door, but he held me back, grabbing my arm. I turned to face him again, a questioning look on my face. What did he want to say to me?

"Bella, when I say anytime, I mean it. It's good having you around. And there isn't a music store in Forks, but there _is _one a little before Port Angeles. If you want, I could take you there sometime." Was he asking me out? I wasn't sure, but he was definitely playing it cool, nonchalant. I tried to do the same, though my head was screaming a million things at me and my heart was rapidly beating against my chest.

"Yeah, I would like that." I told him. We both just sat there, just looking at each other for a while. His hand still gripped my arm and he was now gently tracing circles onto it. I looked down at his hand and he followed my gaze. We made eye contact again and he broke into a beautiful crooked smile, limiting my intake of breath, and removed his hand.

"So. I guess I'll see you later." I said, and I got out of the car successfully this time. I started towards the school when I heard a door shut behind me and Edward's laugh. I turned and he was walking up behind me. "We have homeroom together, remember?" he laughed.

"Oh, yeah. I know, I was just kidding before." I lied pathetically. But Edward saw through me and we both laughed it off.

I was all in all happy. That is, until we walked into the school itself. A lot of people were staring at me before, just because of my being a new student here, something of interest. But now _everyone_ would whisper and point at me as if I couldn't put two and two together and figure out that they were talking about me. They didn't even have the courtesy to stop talking as I passed them.

I figured my incident in the lunch room yesterday was the reason for all this new attention. But then I heard someone talking as I passed. "Edward and Bella?" the girl whispered to her friend, who was looking at us quizzically. I glanced at Edward, who _was_ walking in close proximity to me. I think that he heard them, too, because he frowned and looked back at the two gossips.

"What were they saying?" I asked him.

Edward just shrugged. "Like I told you, small town gossips. We get a lot of them here." he said as we entered the classroom.

We took our seats and I saw Lauren and Jessica. They gave me a dirty look, which I returned with my middle finger and an innocent smile. Edward chuckled at this and we took our seats.

"Sign language, Ms. Swan?" the teacher asked. I looked up. The teacher was at his desk, arms folded across his chest and eyebrows raised. I blushed brightly, mouth hanging open. I tried to think of an excuse, but was spared when he just laughed, shook his head, and called role.

I turned to Edward, who had an amused look on his face.

"What? What are you looking like that for?

He just shook his head. "Relax, Swan. Never let them see you sweat." he laughed. "You looked like you were caught trying to murder somebody."

I narrowed my eyes. "Haha, very funny. But I thought he was going to give me a detention!"

"No, he is probably the coolest teacher here. I don't think I've ever seen him give a detention." Edward assured me.

"Good to know." I said as the bell rang.

"See you at lunch?" I asked Edward outside the classroom. He nodded.

"Well, what's your class before lunch?"

"English," I told him. "Why?"

"Maybe I could meet you there and we could go to lunch together. You know, because I wouldn't want you to tell any more snobby girls off and get yourself into trouble. Especially if I'm not there." Edward said.

I just nodded, because I was too excited to speak. First he offers to take me out and now he wants to walk me to lunch? I was starting to think that just maybe, Edward could really like me. I stopped at that thought. It really was too early to tell if Edward could think of me as more than a friend and I didn't want to get my hopes up.

But if he didn't like me, why did we come dangerously close to kissing on his couch yesterday?

XXXX

I sat outside my English classroom, waiting for Edward to come and take me to class. I have been waiting for ten minutes. I looked around the near deserted hallways- no sign of Edward. Where _was_ he? Tired of waiting, I got up and decided to go to lunch on my own. After all, I'm a big girl now. I think I can handle it.

Annoyed and slightly angry, I walk around the corner, which was a direct path to the lunch room. I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw. Jessica Stanley was leaning up against the row of lockers. Standing right in front of her, was Edward. _They look like __**they're **__having fun, _I thought to myself as I watched Jessica playfully brush Edward's shoulder. It was completely obvious that they were flirting.

Just when I had decided that I'd had enough, I saw Edward lean down and kiss Jessica. My world stopped. I couldn't believe this! How could Edward do this to me? First off, who had been the one to call Jessica and Lauren snobby? Second, if she was so snobby, why was Edward currently making out with her when he was supposed to be with me? And third, he ditched me. And not only for another girl, but for one of my newfound _enemies_. Wow. Some kind of friend he was.

I stormed back around the corner that I had just come from. I would take a different route to lunch. If Edward could find the time to show up, he'd better not even talk to me or I will go off on him.

I took an alternate route to the cafeteria and found Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie all sitting at a table. I took the empty seat next to Alice.

"Hey, Bella! Where's Edward? We figured that since you were both gone, that you were off frolicking and what not." Emmett said.

I glared at him. "No." I said shortly.

"Hey, hey! No need to get defensive. But don't think I didn't catch that yesterday back at my house." he said and winked. I gritted my teeth together.

"Emmett. I said _no_."

Finally getting the hint that I wasn't in a happy mood, Emmett decided to be quiet. Nobody said anything for a minute. Finally, Alice broke the ice.

"What's the matter, Bella?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. It's nothing." I saw Alice and Rosalie exchange glances.

"Seriously, I'm fine!" I nearly shouted.

Rose threw up her hands, as if to surrender. "Okay, fine. But aren't you going to get something to eat?"

At that moment, Edward walked in, grinning like an idiot at me. He sat down next to me. Was he serious? Was he completely oblivious to the fact that he stood me up?

"No, Rose, I'm not hungry." I said, shooting a glare at Edward and scooting my chair closer to Alice and farther away from him. Okay, so maybe I was being a little childish, but I didn't care. I was _hurt_.

Edward just gave me a confused look. "Hey. What's going on?" he whispered at me. I shot him another dirty look and told him to get up. We walked to outside the cafeteria doors.

"What's going on? What's going on is that you told me that you would walk me to class. I waited ten minutes and you never came!" I said.

Realization dawned on his face and he immediately started to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Bella! I just… I just forgot, and well- I didn't… I'm just sorry."

I just rolled my eyes. "Look Edward, you're the one who offered, so if you had something else to do, you shouldn't have bothered. Tell me, what were you doing?" I challenged.

I watched him squirm. Would he lie to me about it?

"I… was with a friend. I was talking to a friend about an assignment we had that I didn't understand. I'm sorry."

I couldn't believe him.

"Wow, Edward. An assignment, huh? You know, I never had you pegged for a liar." I said.

His jaw went slack for a second until he regained his composure. He opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off.

"So what was this assignment about, Edward? The anatomy of the inside of Jessica Stanley's mouth?"

Now he looked surprised and when his mouth hung open, he didn't even try to look calm, cool, and collected any more. I laughed coldly.

"Relax, Cullen. Never let them see you sweat." I said, repeating his words from homeroom. With that, I stormed back to the lunchroom and casually resumed my lunch as if nothing was wrong.

When on the inside, I was being torn apart by myself.


	7. First Kiss

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers! I love hearing what you all have to say! Sorry if some of you were confused at the end. All is explained here. D I think you're gonna like this.

Chapter 6

"So, do you _like_ my brother or something?" Alice asked me for the hundredth time today.

Rosalie, Alice and I all sat in my room. I had given up on hanging out at Alice's house since I got into a fight with Edward today.

"No, Alice. I don't like him at all. Not even as a friend." I said.

"Since when? You guys seemed to be getting to be pretty good pals. What happened today anyways?" Rosalie asked.

I sighed. I didn't want to tell them what happened because then they would know how I had felt about Edward.

"Come on, Bella! Just tell us what happened!" Alice pleaded. I looked over at her and she was making that _face_ that she makes when she wants to get her way.

"Oh, fine! God, you two are so nosy! If you must know, Edward told me after homeroom that he would walk me to lunch. I waited for him for like ten minutes and he never showed up, so I decided to just go myself. But then I saw him making out with Jessica Stanley in the hallway. _That's_ why I am mad at him."

Alice and Rosalie were silent for a moment. I took this as a bad sign. Alice and Rosalie were _never_ quiet unless they were gathering their thoughts to prepare for an explosion of questions. My instincts were right.

"WHAT? JESSICA STANLEY!?"

"WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?"

"IS HE _DERANGED_?"

"AND HE JUST LEFT YOU WHERE YOU WERE?"

"OH, I COULD JUST KILL HIM. WATCH WHEN I GET HOME!"

"I'M HELPING!"

"Okay, okay, okay! _Stop_! Just calm down." I said.

"BUT HE-" Alice started to shout again, but I clamped my hand over her mouth.

"Quiet." I said, giving her my best death glare. She nodded and I took my hand away from her mouth.

"You haven't heard the best part." I said glumly. "I talked to him at lunch and he didn't even realize that he stood me up! And then he lied to me about it. Told me he was asking a friend about an assignment."

Rosalie snorted. "He is completely ridiculous."

I nodded. Before, I had been mad about it, but now I was sad. I really liked Edward. I guess that he didn't like me back after all.

"I was just so upset when I saw them two. I never thought…" I trailed off. I never thought that Edward would do that to me. You think you know someone, but… how could I? I hadn't known Edward for more than two days. Why had I felt like I could completely trust him with my life?

I didn't know the answer to this, but I did know that all of that trust was now extinguished. I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard Rosalie ask,

"Bella, did you have feelings for Edward?" I looked up, shocked. Was I that easy to read?

"No, of course not! I mean, he's gorgeous and everything and I thought he was nice and funny and that we shared a lot of interests, but why would I like him?" I lied horribly, the high pitch in my voice confirming my dishonesty.

Alice laughed, but didn't say anything.

"Then why did you care that he was making out so much?" Rosalie asked.

"Because, he was supposed to be with me! He knew how much I hated that stupid, sorry-" I was cut off by the phone ringing downstairs. "Hold on." I told Alice and Rosalie.

I went downstairs and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Bella? It's Edward." I frowned. As if I wouldn't recognize his velvet voice anywhere.

"What do you want?" I spat into the phone.

"Can we talk? I really wasn't myself earlier."

"What? Edward, how could you not have been you? Did aliens come and invade your brain? Were you possessed by Lauren? There is no _way_ that I am buying that crap!"

"I know, I know! There is no excuse for what I did and I said I'm sorry. I figured that you wouldn't believe me. That's why I need to talk to you- just let me explain."

"Explain what? You stood me up to make out with my enemy! I saw it myself and there is no way to make it sound better than what it is." I said.

"I'd rather do this in person. Can we meet someplace?"

I sighed. I wanted to see him again, but I was still so mad at him!

"Where?" I gave in.

"Just come over to my house." He asked.

I shook my head. Not that Edward could see me doing this over the phone, but whatever.

"No, that's not going to work. Alice and Rose are over my house right now and it would be stupid to go over your house when they'll be there, trying to listen in."

"You're right. Do you know Kalaloch Lodge?"

I had heard of it because Charlie told me that he was going there for the entire coming weekend for fishing.

"I don't know where it is."

"I'll come and get you. Is now okay?" he asked.

"Give me like a half hour, to get Alice and Rosalie to go home." I couldn't believe that I was going through with this. We hung up and I went back upstairs.

"Who was that?" Rosalie asked.

"It was Edward. He wants to talk to me about what happened in person, so you guys have to leave."

Alice's mouth was hanging open in shock. "Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm not kidding. I haven't forgiven him or anything."

"Where are you two going?" Alice wanted to know.

"I don't know. Some place called Kalaloch Lodge or something."

They both raised their eyebrows. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that Kalaloch Lodge is a tourist attraction. I wonder why he's taking you there to _talk." _Rosalie said.

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?"

"It's nothing." Alice said quickly. "So, when are you going?"

"I told him about a half an hour, so maybe in twenty minutes? Which is why you need to go now." I said.

"Why? What do you need twenty minutes for? Not going to get all dolled up, are you, Bella?" Alice asked.

"Out. Now." I said pointing to the door. They both got up and exited. Rosalie paused once she was in the hall and turned back to me.

"Okay, Bella, but watch. When you come back, all will be forgiven. Mark my words. I know Edward." She said. Alice nodded in agreement and they left. A couple moments later, I heard the front door shut and they were gone.

I flopped back on my bed and covered my face with my hands. Two days of school and I was already completely stressed out. It felt like I had been here a lifetime.

I was in my pajamas now and I needed to change into something else before Edward came to get me. So I got up and picked up the first thing from my closet that I saw. It was that blue long sleeved shirt that I had gotten at the mall that day. I hesitated- I didn't want anyone to think that I was trying to look good for him. So I rummaged through the rest of my closet to find an alternative. I was out of luck. Everything else that I had was dirty or for Arizona weather.

I decided that it's not a big deal, so I just put the stupid shirt on and some jeans. I looked myself over in the mirror. My hair was a little messed up, so I just threw it up in a ponytail with a black headband. I was ready to go.

The car ride over was awkward.

"Hey, Bella." Edward said when I got into the car. I wasn't going to give in so easy now; he had to be punished for what he did!

"Mmm" I replied back, not ever looking in his direction. I felt like just the drive to where we were going could have been used to talk in person instead of a "tourist attraction" like Rosalie said.

A few minutes later, nothing more was said and neither of us tried to initiate conversation. This is when Edward put in that new Cute Is What We Aim For CD that he knew that I wanted. I couldn't figure out if he was taunting me or trying to make amends with the CD. I peeked over at him from the corner of my eye and his eyes were trained on the road.

Then he started singing "Hollywood". If I thought that hearing his normal voice was a luxury, I didn't even know what to call his singing voice. I couldn't help but stare at him in shock and amazement. If he kept this up, I would be putty in his hands by the end of the night.

I was caught when the car stopped and he cut the engine. He saw me looking at him and gave a sly smirk. I quickly looked back out the window, placing a hard expression on my face again.

Wordlessly we got out of the car and I started walking toward the entrance door of the Kalaloch Lodge.

"Wrong way." Edward called from behind me.

"What are you talking about? The entrance is right here."

He laughed. "Just get over here." Annoyed, I walked back over to the car.

"This place is a tourist attraction, which means money unnecessarily spent for locals like us. We'll have to walk a little bit, but don't worry, it'll be worth it."

I groaned. "How much walking is a little bit? You know that I'm clumsy."

"It's mostly flat ground so you shouldn't trip. And it should only take about ten minutes to get there." He said.

I followed Edward around the building and we started on a small trail. I decided to make good use of the trip to wherever he was taking me and started conversation.

"So, what do we need to talk about so badly?" I asked.

"We need to talk about what you saw today." He said quietly.

"What is there to say? Actions speak louder than words, and from what I saw, there was a whole lot of action going on." Edward was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath and said,

"Well, Jessica and I dated before. It was back in the summer before ninth grade." He revealed. I stared at him in shock.

"Why?" I couldn't help but blurt out loud.

"Believe it or not, she wasn't always a raving bitch." He ignored my snort. "No, she started that up last year when she began hanging out with Lauren. But anyways, it was only for about a month and then I broke it off."

"Okay," I said slowly. "And how does this tie into you two playing tonsil hockey?"

"I think she always held a grudge against me for breaking up with her, or maybe she still has feelings for me… but anyways, what exactly did you see?"

"I saw you two flirting and then you _kissed-_"

"Stop right there. I didn't kiss her, she kissed me. And if I was expecting or saw it coming, it wouldn't have happened. I did forget to go and get you and that was just me being an idiot and I am very sorry. But there was a reason."

I waited for him to tell me the reason, but he didn't. He looked at me and I felt like he was waiting for me to say something.

"I'm listening." I said.

"I have History class with Jessica before lunch and I figured that since she wasn't around Lauren, she might actually be civil. So after the class let out, I caught up with her in the hallway and tried to talk her into being civil with you, too. What you thought was flirting was me trying to charm her into being nice. I think that she took it the wrong way and then she kissed me."

I stared at him, trying to tell if he was lying or not. There was no trace of guilt or deceit on his face, but I did see an apology. Knowing I had been wrong, I didn't want to look at his innocent face any longer, and ashamed I stared at the ground.

"Wow. I really screwed that up." I said.

"So do you forgive me?" he asked.

"Yes. Do you forgive me for being so rotten to you?"

He laughed and lifted my chin so that I had to make eye contact with him. "Bella, there is nothing for you to apologize for. I know what it must have looked like."

I nodded and he let go of my face. "But why did you lie when I asked you about it?"

"I felt guilty about her kissing me and I didn't want you to know that I was trying to get her to be nice to you. You might have thought it was lame."

"It wasn't lame at all. I really appreciate that, Edward. You're a great friend." At the word friend, he looked at me with… regret. I quickly broke the gaze and noticed that we had stopped walking.

"We're here. See, that wasn't so bad, was it? You didn't even trip."

"That's a miracle. Where are we?" I asked, taking a look around. We were all alone on a beach and the sun was setting on the horizon of the ocean. It was amazingly beautiful.

"It's the back of the Kalaloch Lodge." Edward answered.

"It's so pretty…"

"It really is." Edward said. I looked at him and he was looking at me. I blushed.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked.

"What?"

"Why did you try so hard to protect me from Jessica and Lauren?"

"It's simple, really. Bella, I care about you. I have known you for only a couple of days, and it feels like forever." He confessed.

I smiled. "That's so funny. I was thinking the exact same thing today before you called. I feel like I could trust you with my life."

"I am glad you feel that way. Because there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

I felt my entire body getting hot in anticipation. "What is it?"

"I really, really like you, Bella. In the short time that I've known you, I have felt a better connection with you that anybody that I have ever met in my life. I don't know what it is about you, but you're making me crazy."

"Edward, I really like you too. Are you saying that you think that maybe we could… maybe you would want…" I trailed off, not knowing how to say this.

"What I want is for you to be mine."

"I… are you asking me out?" I asked stupidly.

"Yes, Bella. Now would you please say yes like you know you want to so we can move on?"

"Move on to what?"

"Move on to this." Edward said. And then he leaned down and kissed me. It was the most amazing thing I had ever felt. My body tingled as he pulled away and stroked my cheek.

"Yes." I said.

"I thought you were supposed to say that _before_ I kissed you."

I worked up my courage and said something with more than one syllable.

"Well then, we should have a re-do, shouldn't we?"

He laughed and kissed me for the second time at twilight.

A/N: And there you are, Edward cravers. The link to the picture of the Kalaloch sunset is on my page.


	8. First Words

A/N: HAPPY BREAKING DAWN

A/N: HAPPY BREAKING DAWN!

Chapter 8

The next morning, Edward drove me to school again. He had told Alice last night that we were officially dating, and that the two of us would be travelling to school together alone from now on.

I received the phone call from Alice about ten minutes after I got in the house from the night at the beach.

"I just knew it! You know, you're all that little Edward has been talking about, so of course I knew that you two would end up together somehow. Even Rose called it!" an excited Alice told me.

"Really? He's been talking about me?"

I could practically hear Alice rolling her eyes over the phone. "Of course, Bella! It's been nonstop, actually. He's known you for what, two days? It's hard to believe he got so much in during such a short-"

I'm not completely sure about what happened next, but it sounded like the phone had been dropped. Then I heard Alice scream "What the hell!"

I laughed. I had never heard Alice swear before, and it sounded so funny coming from her tiny mouth.

"What's so funny, angel?" a velvet voice questioned.

I almost dropped the phone at the sound of Edward's voice.

"Edward? Where's Alice?" I asked.

"What, are you unhappy to hear from me?" he asked in mock hurt.

"No, no, of course not. It's just- should I be worried?" I joked.

"If you really like her, then yes." He said. I laughed.

"So, I hear that you've been talking about me."

"Oh, no. I think that my poor little sister got you confused with my other gorgeous girlfriend."

I blushed. I had never been called gorgeous before, and the mere thought that I was not only somebody's- but Edward's- girlfriend made me want to squeal out loud.

"Right. As long as she's not blonde." I said, referring to Jessica, who so obviously died her hair.

"Nah, I'm more into brunettes these days." Edward said, catching on.

"Well, how lucky for me then." I said. I was definitely not joking.

"Yeah, _you're _the lucky one." Edward snorted. "Look, I have to go. It seems that my bribe of ten dollars to Alice if she let me steal the phone has a time limit."

"Hmm, could be dangerous if I don't let you go. I'll see you tomorrow morning, then."

"I'll be there. Bye Bella."

"Bye Edward." I said.

There was a pause and Alice got on the line. "Sheesh! I can see that you two are going to be inseparable." She said.

"I plan on it."

"Yeah, well, I don't think that he'll have any problem with that. Jasper is coming over to watch a movie, so I've gotta go." She said.

"Okay. Bye Alice."

Thankfully, the phone call wasn't the least bit painful.

XXXX

The next morning at school, Edward and I walked into homeroom hand in hand. As if we were putting on a big show, everyone stared at us. By the looks I was getting from the female population, it was like I had personally insulted each girl in the class.

"People are staring!" I told Edward in a hushed voice as we took our seats."

"So let's give them something to stare at." He replied. Before I had the chance to say another word, his lips captured mine. Edward's tongue prodded my lips and I granted him entrance. Our tongues met and I was so lost in the kiss that when I heard one person clapping, I almost jumped out of my seat. Face red with embarrassment, I looked up and saw that our homeroom teacher, Mr. Lima, was the source of applause. I was mortified.

"While that was quite the show, Mr. Cullen, Ms. Swan-"

"I'll say!" Mike Newton said loudly. Edward turned and glared daggers as him until the stupid grin was off of his face.

Edward turned back to face the teacher. Mike winked at me behind his back and I tried not to gag.

Meanwhile, the teacher continued with what he was saying before Mike interrupted.

"As I was saying, though that was highly enjoyable, we really should focus on attendance." Edward was now glaring at the teacher, which would not keep us out of trouble. Quickly, I said "Of course, sir." and kicked Edward. He looked at me and his expression softened when the bell rang.

When we were out in the hall, I asked Edward what that was all about.

"What was what all about?" he asked in a slightly irritated voice.

"You were shooting lasers at Mr. Lima with your eyes!"

Edward stopped walking and turned to me. We were outside of my next class now.

"He was being a pervert!" he exclaimed.

A few girls going into the classroom stopped and stared at Edward and I.

"Move along." He said to them, and they scurried into the room. I stared at Edward, surprised.

"Edward what's bugging you?"

He let out a big sigh. "I just hate Newton. That's all." Well then I guessed I wouldn't tell him about the wink that Mike gave me.

"He's just immature. Don't let it get you so upset." I said.

"Your right. You're great, you know that? It's one of the many reasons I love you."

As soon as those last three words left his mouth, Edward's eyes went wide and he froze. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. I was shocked, but maybe not for the same reasons that Edward was.

I could easily see that the words had not come out on purpose, which I have to admit did hurt.

What I was shocked about was that almost like a reflex, I was about to say that I loved him right back, had it not been for the expression on his face.

"Bella, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" Edward began in a tumble of words. I clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing him.

"So you didn't mean to say that? You don't love me?" I asked, mustering up all of my courage but failing to mask the hurt in my voice.

Edward removed my hand from his mouth and kept both of his around it.

"Screw it. Bella, I love you."

I let out a big sigh of relief. "I love you, too."

I waited for him to say something, but Edward just stared at me.

"Did you hear me? I said I love you!"

I barely got the words out before Edward's lips attacked mine. He roughly kissed me. This time as our mouths collided, Edward almost immediately was parting my lips. I ran my tongue along his and our mouths kept exploring each other. I was just being backed into the wall when the bell rang, startling me. I broke away from Edward.

"Oh no! We have to get to class!" I said.

"Mmm" was all that I got out of Edward as his lips were now moving to my neck. I gently pushed him away. He stopped and sighed.

"Let's skip. It's healthy to ditch class now and then."

"I don't know…" I said. It was only my first week here.

Edward leaned toward me until his mouth was at my ear and I could smell his enticing scent.

"I'll make it worth your while." He promised in a low, sexy voice.

Shivers ran up and down my spine. I took a deep breath and inhaled him in the process. My knees almost buckled. Incapable of breathing, I nodded, but of course he couldn't see me. He was leaving a trail of kisses along my neck again.

Somehow, I managed to let out a breathless "Okay."

A/N: Did you like? I had to post and I stayed up till 4:30AM for you guys writing this and the next chapter! Reward me with some reviews and enjoy your Breaking Dawn… it's almost time to go to the midnight release party!


	9. First Challenge

A/N: Soooo has everyone finished BD

A/N: Soooo has everyone finished BD? How could you not! I hardly slept until I did haha.

But anyways I want you all to do me a HUGEEE favor and go to /topazheart

It's my new website that I created for Twilight! Please check it out! And now, here is the story.

Chapter 9

I used my key to open the door of my house. Edward and I had nowhere to go since we were skipping class. We decided that we would only miss this period and then show up again for third.

"Should I give the grand tour?" I asked. Edward laughed. "Sure," he replied.

I showed him the living room.

"This is where my dad fulfills all of his manly sports needs." I joked.

Next was the kitchen. "This kitchen pretty much belongs to me. I always cook for Charlie."

"Always?" Edward asked.

"Yeah. I'm like a housedaughter," I joked. "I cook and clean. It's been like this since my mom died."

"I'm sorry. Alice told me that she passed away."

"Thanks. It's been pretty hard on us, but it's better now. I think my dad still hurts a lot though. They were so in love… sometimes I worry about him."

I thought about what I would do if I lost Edward and frowned.

"Hey, if he's got you, I'm sure he'll be fine." Edward said, comforting me.

I smiled. "Don't get all serious on me. Let's finish the tour. We have one last stop."

I took him to my room. "And here is my room." I said, gesturing like Vanna White as I opened the door.

I kicked off my shoes and sat on my bed. Edward followed. He picked up my blue Beanie Baby bear and held it up to his face, posing with it.

"What do you think? Am I a good model?" he asked jokingly.

I held my hands in front of my face as if I were holding a camera. "Hmm, I don't know. Give me sorrow!"

Edward looked at the bear and stuck his lower lip out. "That's what I'm talking about! Give me… sexy!"

He squinted his eyes and made a kissy face, sucking his cheeks in. I dropped my hands and we both burst out laughing. I rolled my eyes, still smiling, and took the stuffed animal.

We settled down and sat in silence for a minute. Then Edward took my hand and absently started tracing patterns on it. I stared at out intertwined fingers and thought about the reason we were here. Had we really just declared ourselves? It seemed so surreal that this could happen already, and that somebody as gorgeous as Edward could fall for someone so plain.

"Edward? Can I ask you something?"

"Anything you want," he said.

"How come earlier, when you said you… loved me… Well, why exactly did you start apologizing?" This was the something that had utterly confused me.

Edward laughed. "Oh, Bella. I know what you were thinking when I did that, which is why I said it again."

"Well then thank god you can read my mind because my heart just about crumpled when you did."

"I can't read your mind. I could just tell. And I'm sorry."

"You were forgiven when you kissed me. But that still doesn't answer my question." I reminded him.

"Okay, okay. I guess distracting you won't work. See, I'm new to this. I've never been in a relationship before and that day when I was about to kiss you, Emmett harassed me into admitting that I loved you. And yes, I did love you back within ten seconds after you left the house.

"Anyway, Emmett said not to tell you how I felt using the "L" word. He said it turned girls off."

"Oh, I get it!" I said. "So when you said it, you thought that I wouldn't feel the same way, so you tried to take it back?" I tried not to laugh.

"That's it. It wasn't supposed to happen, not that I'm complaining about the outcome…. But it felt so natural, as if I'd said it every day of my life."

"I know what you mean. I was about to say it right back without hesitation until I saw the look on your face."

"Well, we can't object now, can we?" He kissed my forehead.

"I'm sure not. There's another thing I'm not complaining about, either." I said.

"And what is that?"

"You have some serious skills in the make out department there, Cullen. There is no way that you've never done this before."

Edward raised an eyebrow and grinned at me. "I'm that good, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "Now, now, let's not get a big head!" I teased.

"Hmm, well it seems that we'll have to work on your skills then." He joked back.

"Are you challenging me?" I asked.

"No, no. No need for that. I know I have the upper hand here. There's no need for false hope."

My mind raced and my heart went along with it. "Edward, where did we leave off back at the school?" I asked sweetly.

A devilish grin spread across his face, but before he could act, I turned so that I was straddling him.

"Well, hello there," he said, eyebrows raised. We both burst out laughing and I turned again so that I was off of Edward, now laying where I was sitting next to him before.

"You know, you can continue if you'd like." Edward said, patting his lap. I rolled my eyes.

"Slow down there, speedy." I said.

"Oh, I can be slow." Edward said, leaning towards me. He softly kissed me lips, much like our first kiss. He pulled back and our eyes locked. Again, he kissed me, more lingering this time, but incredibly dawdlingly. I wrapped my arms around Edward's neck, trying to deepen the kiss.

Edward wasn't having it.

He pulled away yet again. This time, the corners of his mouth were tugging upwards.

"Ah, ah, ah. You wanted it slow, remember?"

I sighed. "Edward, we've already played tonsil hockey. Remember earlier at school?"

"Shhh…" he said, lightly putting his lips on mine, finally letting his tongue poke out and lick my lips. As soon as our tongues touched, he withdrew. I got ready to complain again when he started to softly suck at my collarbone.

I was liking this.

I let out a sigh of bliss. This got Edward's attention back. He stared intently into my eyes, as if trying to figure out a difficult equation. Suddenly, he was everywhere.

His mouth assaulted mine, our tongues dancing, fighting for control. When he felt like he had triumphed me, he pulled back.

"Upper hand every time." He said in between the parade of kissed he was leading down my jaw to my collarbone again.

I wanted to prove him wrong. I entwined my finger in his bronze hair and pulled his mouth back up to mine. I traced his mouth with my tongue until I felt that I could make a map of it. Edward was all hands, running up and down my body, becoming familiar.

"What happened to slow?" I panted as we broke apart briefly.

"I decided to accelerate." He said, trying to catch his breath, too. We went back to devouring each other. Before I knew it, my shirt was being lifted off my head. Startled, I looked down at myself in my black pushup. This was all going so fast. Too fast, I decided as Edward sucked my collarbone again, swiftly making his way down…

I gently pushed him away. He looked up at me, eyed smoldering.

"We have to stop." I whispered. I waited for the fire in his eyes slowly fade.

"You're right. I'm sorry." He said, though his eyes looked over my topless torso, appraisingly. "But if you really want me to stop, you should probably put your shirt back on."

I flushed and did just that. We sat a moment in awkward silence.

"So, what do you want to do?" Edward asked. I glanced around my room, in search of entertainment. I did double take when I saw the time on my alarm clock.

"Edward! It's almost the end of third period!"

"What? Shit! What are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't know! We were supposed to be back nearly an hour ago!"

"It's okay. We're already here, so let's just stay here. If we go back now, it will be obvious to the people in our classes that we left."

I agreed. We ended up laying on the couch in the living room, watching _Last Tango in Paris_. I lay there in Edward's arms, completely content.

A/N: What'd you think? Don't forget to go to /topazheart and review!


	10. First Meeting with Charlie

A/N: Sorry about not updating for a little bit, but I was grounded

A/N: Sorry about not updating for a little bit, but I was grounded. Sucks being 14, huh?

I walked down the aisle slowly. At first I wasn't sure where I was. Then I saw the stained glass windows and the couple at the altar. Slowly, I approached the as the minister said his part of the wedding vows.

The wedding march in my head wasn't fast enough, and before I could reach the bride and groom, they kissed and turned to face the audience.

I gasped- for I was staring at myself in a wedding gown, and next to me, his arm around my waist, was Edward. My hand flew to my mouth in surprise. The married version of me just laughed.

"This is what you wanted, right? Maybe you shouldn't have moved so fast!" she teased.

The dream ended as I was being shaken. My eyes flew open and the first thing I saw was a red- faced Charlie leaning over me, shaking me awake.

Disoriented, I started to get up, but then I remembered. Edward was here and we must have fallen asleep! I looked at my surroundings and he was still here, standing next to the couch looking shocked and confused, not to mention soaked.

"What the hell are you doing? Huh? Having a boy here when you're supposed to be in school? Are you crazy?" Charlie screamed down at me.

I flew to my feet. "Dad! It's not what it looks like, I swear! We were just watching a movie and-"

"What are you doing out of school?!"

"It's not her fault, sir," Edward interjected. "I suggested that we-"

"And you!" Charlie pointed a finger at Edward. "You get out of my house! And stay away from my daughter!"

Edward looked at me apologetically and turned to leave.

"Dad! Edward, no! Don't go yet!" I pleaded. Edward stopped.

"Dad, Edward didn't do anything! But what did you do to him? Why is he all wet?"

Charlie crossed his arms. "He wouldn't wake up."

I stared at my father, horrified. "Are you insane? That was so uncalled for, Dad!"

"What's uncalled for is coming home on my break to surprise you with a car, but instead finding you already here cozied up with a boy!" A car? Now I felt horrible.

"Look, I'm so sorry. We weren't planning on skipping the whole day, we really weren't. We just lost track of time."

"That's it! I want you out, now!" he said to Edward. Then he turned back to me. "And you are to go to your room! And you can both leave each other alone for good!"

"I'm sorry Chief Swan, but I can't do that."

I stared in shock at Edward, who was not budging. Now Charlie's face was beginning to turn purple.

"Can't do that? I said get out, boy! I can have you arrested for trespassing!"

This was getting completely out of hand. I thought back to my dream. Were we really moving too fast? Maybe we should just be away from each other for a couple of days. It would be hard, but I wouldn't end up marrying at eighteen.

I put my hand to my face in stress, only to find that I was crying.

"Edward. Maybe you should just go. I'll see you in school."

He stared at me in shock, mouth hanging open. "Fine. If that's what you want. Bye, Bella."

I felt like something had changed so quickly as I watched him walk out the door. Without so much as another look at Charlie, I trotted back up the stairs and into my room, containing my sobs.

But when I closed that door behind me, I flopped on my bed, the place where just earlier today, I had been so happy, happy with Edward. And I sobbed. But what had I just done? Did I break up with him?

It seemed that that was exactly what Charlie had wanted. I knew what it all must have looked like to him, coming home to find me sleeping in Edward's arms.

But he should have just trusted me. Couldn't he see it in my face that I was telling the truth, that nothing happened?

I supposed it didn't matter now, because Edward had left. And because I told him to. What did he make of that? I hoped he didn't think that I didn't really love him, because I did. It was just that dream…

That dream scared me. My mother had been young when she married Charlie and I didn't want that. She was the talk of the town, especially after giving birth to me a year later.

My parents loved each other with everything in them. I could always see it when I looked at them as a little girl. But even so, my mom had always told me,

"Be in love, and stay in love. It sees no age, but when you really love somebody and your as young as me and your dad were, wait to marry, because it is only a piece of paper and a fancy piece of jewelry. There are much greater things to represent love, and that is in the two people themselves. So wait, and you'll be happy."

It hadn't been a week with Edward, and what, I was already thinking that one day we would marry? I knew I loved him, and he said he loves me. I know he does. When Charlie told him to leave today, he wasn't going to go. He wasn't going to let my dad tell him that he couldn't see me anymore. That meant so much to me. And what had I done?

I needed to see him. But how? I knew I was grounded, and my dad wouldn't buy that I was going next door just to see Alice. He probably wouldn't _let_ me see her even if that was really what I wanted. For the first time, I really wished that I had a cell phone.

I looked at my clock and it was already six. I had been crying for two hours. I needed Edward.

A/N: It was a short chapter, but I had a time limit today. Sorry if it's too lovey or whatever. I just got done watching The Notebook. Every person in the world must see this movie!


	11. First Secret Outing

A/N: Twilight is awesome

A/N: Twilight is awesome. Guess what, if you haven't already heard:

TWILIGHT THE MOVIE IS COMING OUT 3 WEEKS EARLY! **3 WEEKS! **

**yep, that's NOVEMBER 21! **But really, how haven't you heard by now?

It had been three days since Charlie kicked Edward out of my house and forbade me to see him. Edward must have called me a million times, but every time, Charlie answered and wouldn't let me talk to him. He kept coming home at random times to check in to see if we were communicating.

Even though Edward said that he would see me in school the next day when I told him he should go, he wasn't there all week. I hated not knowing what was going on with my boyfriend, and not seeing him. I desperately wanted him near, to be with him.

I completely regretted telling him to go. I don't care what my dad said, I would be with Edward somehow. We would figure something out because we _did_ love each other.

I just didn't know what to do.

I was just about drifting off to sleep when I heard a low rap. I shot up on my elbows, staring around my room. I was probably being stupid, because I locked the door and I was sure that nobody was in the house.

Besides, when I heard the noise again, I also saw something hit my window. I gasped and got out of bed. I made my way over to my window, and there, in my front yard, was Edward.

I wrenched the window open, and resisted the urge to jump out of the window and into his arms.

"Edward!" I beamed at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Bella, this is crazy. I can't be away from you any longer."

"I know. I've missed you so much! Where have you been?"

"I'll tell you later. Can you come with me?"

"Where?"

"Anywhere. As long as I'm with you."

"Hold on, stay right there!"

I quietly went to Charlie's bedroom and pressed my ear against the door. He was fast asleep, snoring loudly.

I went back to my window. Edward was still in the same exact spot as before.

"Let me get some normal clothes on really quick and I'll be out."

Edward nodded and I went back into my room. I threw on a sweatshirt and pulled on some jeans quickly, hoping Edward wouldn't notice me as I made the change.

I tiptoed downstairs and quietly opened the front door. I used the key from the eave to lock it again. Then I turned around and ran to Edward.

I instantly threw my arms around him, burying my head into his chest.

"I'm sorry about the other night. I didn't really want you to leave, but it was the best thing to do because of Charlie."

"I know. I overreacted about it. It's been hell not seeing you these last few days."

"That brings me back to why you weren't in school. How do you think I felt, not knowing where you were?"

"I'm sorry. I was in Alaska, visiting family. One of my cousins has an illness and we had to go see them."

I pulled away from Edward and looked at him.

"Edward! Oh my god, _I'm_ sorry! Don't apologize to me! Is your cousin okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine now. It was just a scare."

I let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad."

Edward just stared at me, a smile on his face.

"What? What are you looking at me like that for?"

He smiled wider and shook his head.

"You are just so amazing. You don't even know my cousin and you were so concerned about her."

I blushed, not knowing what to say.

"So, where are we going?"

"Let's just drive around. We can park somewhere."

I raised my eyebrows at him, and he laughed.

"I didn't mean it like _that_. God, what's wrong with your mind?"

I laughed as we got into his car and he started driving. "Hmm, well you _have _been quite the bad influence on me. Skipping school, disobeying my father, sneaking out late at night? We'll be inmates before we graduate high school."

But Edward didn't laugh. Instead, his face got all serious.

"Your right. I didn't notice that before. We've been getting into some trouble lately, haven't we? I hope Charlie wasn't too upset with you."

"Edward, stop. Charlie was fine, he just overreacts sometimes. Like someone else I know." I shot him a sly look from the corner of my eye. "But really, I chose to do these things. Stop thinking it's your fault. Because it doesn't matter either way. Three days is enough for me, thanks. Your not leaving my sight now."

"You don't have to worry. It wasn't exactly the most fun part of my week when I wasn't with you. I don't think it'll happen again."

"Good. So what _was_ the most funnest part of your week?"

"Funnest? Is that even a word?"

"It is now."

"Right," he laughed. "Hmm. It's been a pretty exciting week, for me."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Well, this hot new girl moved into town."

"Shut up!" I blushed.

He rolled his eyes.

"Bella, you must learn how to take a compliment. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, so the new girl moved to town. And she is friends with my sister so she comes over my house and we almost kiss, but then my stupid brother came invading me like he always does."

"Sounds kind of similar to my week. Except then, this guy I really liked and I got into a fight, but it turned out okay because he ended up kissing me and now we're going out."

"Really? Same thing happened to me. And then we made out at her house and we fell asleep together."

"Woah, woah, woah. Wait a minute, you said the same thing happened to you! You kissed a guy and are now dating him, too? Wow. I usually have a pretty good gaydar."

Edward laughed. "No, I kissed a girl, and I liked it."

I stared at him with a weird expression.

"What? The song was stuck in my head."

I laughed.

"Huh. Sounds fun."

"It was. She was good, too."

My face must have been as red as a tomato. I just looked out my window.

He laughed. "What? You can compliment me on my sills but I can't do the same for you?"

"Oh, please."

He sighed. "Bella. Honestly, I don't know how to make you see yourself clearly."

I shrugged.

"Why don't you? You are so beautiful. I'm sure that I'm not the first person to tell you that."

I snorted. "You are."

"Well maybe everyone was so intimidated by your beauty."

I rolled my eyes. "What would you do if I was ugly?"

"I would have to dump you."

I stared at him in shock. Edward took his eyes from the road and looked at me. He laughed.

"I was kidding, Bella."

"Sorry. I guess I'm just a little… I don't know the word for it… I just can't believe that I'm with you."

"Yeah? Well, how about we go somewhere."

"Where?"

"No where special; I just thought you might like it. You'll see. We're almost there, actually."

About ten minutes later, we pulled up at an old record store.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

"You said you wanted that Cute Is What We Aim For CD, right? This is the music store I was telling you about."

"Edward. It is eleven o' clock at night."

"So?"

I looked through my window at the place. The front window was dark, and as far as I could see, all the lights were off.

"Edward, it's not even open."

"It will be in a second."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on."

Edward got out of the car and I followed him. We walked to the door of the store. I tugged the door.

"It's locked."

"It is." It was a statement, not a question.

I waited for him to go on.

"And how are we supposed to do anything here if we can't get in" I stared at him in suspicion. Was he psychotic? Maybe he skipped out on his medications.

"No illegal activities; I've been in enough trouble lately," I added.

"Right. No more bad influences. I guess I'll just have to unlock it." He joked.

"How?"

Edward dug in his pocket and pulled out a key. "A key."

"And how do you have a key to an old record store?"

"My family owns it."

"What? And your just telling me this now?"

He shrugged. "Yeah."

I tried to frown at him, but had to laugh.

"Okay, fine."

He unlocked the door and we went inside. It was dark; Edward had not turned on the lights yet. I wandered around, looking for the light switch or something. All of a sudden, I bumped into something and a loud metal bang erupted.

"Shit!" I cursed under my breath.

From behind me, I heard Edward's chuckle. I was about to turn around and swat him when I felt his arms around me from behind.

"You are such a klutz, you know that?" he said.

"Yes, I know that."

He laughed again and leaned down to kiss my neck. "It's one of the things I love about you," he whispered.

I turned around so that I was facing him, but he was still holding me in his arms.

"I love you too." I said, and he kissed me.

We stayed like that for an immeasurable amount of time, but I knew that we couldn't just make out all night. I acknowledged the fact in my mind, but couldn't bring myself to stop.

Apparently, though, Edward could, because he pulled back. I sighed and he chuckled.

"Maybe we should stop before we get too carried away."

I sighed again and leaned in to kiss him one more time.

"Bella…"

I rolled my eyes. "What? You started it."

He smiled and released me, but he still had his arm around me.

"What were we here for again?" I asked.

"I wanted to have something to do… oh, hold on. Let me turn on the lights before you go and kill yourself."

That reminded me. "What did I do before? What was that bang?"

At that moment, Edward turned the lights on.

"You knocked over a metal folding chair. Great job, Bella! You ruin everything!" he joked.

"Haha, very funny, Mr. All Graceful Edward." I said, and bent to pick it up.

He brushed his fingernails on his shirt arrogantly, but still jokingly. "Well, what can I say?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Okay, so what do you want?" Edward asked.

"What do I want? What do you mean?"

"I didn't bring you to the music store just to make out, you know."

"Edward, I'm not letting you buy me anything."

"It's my store. I can take what I want."

"No! Isn't that like stealing from yourself or something?"

"No."

"Well I would feel like I would be stealing from you, and so my answer is _no_."

"Fine, then you leave me no choice but to buy you CDs, therefore spending unnecessary money when we can get them for free."

"That's not fair! Besides, I don't want any CDs right now."

He sighed. "Alright then. If that's how it's going to be…"

He walked over to a rack and picked a CD up.

"What is that?"

"Cute Is What We Aim For. You already told how much you wanted it, remember?"

"Yes, I remember, but I was hoping that _you_ wouldn't."

"I remember everything you tell me." Edward said simply.

I smiled at him.

"So what else do you want? Really, Bella."

"Please don't make me get another one."

He laughed and shook his head. "You are so strange, Bella. You would think that I was torturing you instead of giving you presents."

"I don't like presents that much."

"Why not?"

"Because, what can I get you?"

Edward walked over towards me and held my face in his hands.

"You have given me yourself. That's all I can ask for. That's all that I need."

"Well you are all that _I _need, Edward."

He dropped his hands. "I know that. But I still want you to have other things."

"Your not going to let this go, are you?"

"No."

"Fine. I'll let you get me one more CD."

"What do you want?"

"I don't know… do you have Claude Debussy?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You like Debussy?"

"Well, yeah. My mom used to listen to it around the house, so I kind of grew up with it."

"I like them too!"

"We are so much alike! We should be friends!"

"Naw, I don't think so."

I punched his shoulder lightly and he rubbed it, pretending it hurt.

"Okay, so Rotation and Debussy." He looked at the clock on the wall.

"We should probably be heading out right now. It is already one AM."

I looked at the clock in amazement. How did I always lose track of time when I was with him?

"Let's go." I said, and Edward turned the lights off and locked up again. "And Edward," I began.

"Yes, Bella?"

"Thank you."

He smiled. "Your welcome."

A/N: A nice fluffy little chapter. With what I'm about to do, I felt it completely necessary. Don't hate me for the next chapter, but do review!

PS (And I was going to tell you about the new date a lot sooner when nobody knew but since I am such a procrastinator, I guess it's not big news to any one anymore lol.)


	12. First Party

A/N: Dun dun dun (I just love saying that

A/N: Dun dun dun (I just love saying that!) The chapter of doom! Just read it and then maybbbbeeeeeeee you could, I don't know, review? Thanks to those of you who DO review and by the way, IM SOOO SORRY THAT I HAVENT UPDATED IN A WHILE! LIKE, A LONG LONG WHILE. But it is my freshman year in high school and so between that and cheerleading, I've been a little distracted and busy. Again I am SOOOO SORRY! FEEL FREE TO CROWN ME WORST AUTHOR EVER. UGHH SO SORRRRYYYYYYYYYYY.

Anyways, heres the next chappie!

"Edward, yes you _can_ use the commutative property on division!" Rosalie yelled.

"Rose. I am telling you this so that you do not fail. Again. You can NOT use the commutative property on anything but addition and multiplication."

"Damn you! You smartass bastard! Who asked you anyway?"

"You did."

"UGH! You know what? I'm just gonna ask Emmett the answer!"

Edward snorted. "Yeah, ask Emmett. Cuz we all know he's the brain around here, right?"

"Hey! I'm right here and I will kill you!" Emmett said.

This was not a good day at lunch.

"Actually, you guys, Edward's right, the commutative property is only for adding and multiplying," I said.

"Oh, shut up Bella!" Rose and Emmett screamed in unison.

Edward opened his mouth, probably to yell at them for yelling at me, when a football player came over to our table.

"Emmett, what's up, man?"

They knocked fists. "Not much. What's going on?"

"Did you hear about the party tonight at the Ryan Castillo's?"

"Yeah, you going?"

"Hell yes! You better be, too!"

"Man, I wish. I've got this family thing, though."

The football player looked at him like he was crazy. "A family thing?"

Emmett nodded and his friend looked at Alice and Edward with a dirty look.

"Alright, but you are missing out on the party of the year, man!"

"Yeah, well. I'll catch up with you later, alright?"

"Cool," he said, and then retreated.

"You guys have a family thing?" I asked. Edward hadn't told me anything about his plans for the weekend yet.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Emmett, my dad and I are going camping."

"Oh. How long will you guys be gone?"

"We'll be back Sunday."

I pouted. A whole weekend without any Edward? What was I supposed to do?

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and kissed me. "I'll miss you."

I sighed. "I'll miss you too."

"Aw, knock it off, you two! It's two days. I think you'll survive." Rose said.

I narrowed my eyes. "Shut _up_ Rose!"

"I speak the truth. Don't deny it. You two are attached at the hip."

Everyone at the table nodded in agreement.

I frowned and turned to Edward. "We aren't attached at the hip, are we?"

"Who cares?"

"_You_ guys don't care because you don't have to listen to it. Your always so lovey- dovey," Emmett said.

"Yeah, as if we haven't had to listen to you and Rose being 'lovey dovey' before," Alice countered.

"Thank you!" Edward exclaimed.

Rose kicked him under the table. I raised an eyebrow and decided that I didn't want to know.

"So Alice, your not going camping?" I asked.

"No. I was actually thinking about going to that party tonight."

"Oh. I was hoping that we could hang out."

"We can. You can come to the party too!"

"I don't know Alice…" I did not do parties at all.

"Oh, come on Bella! We can have a sleepover the entire weekend, too."

"I still don't know. I mean, Charlie might not want me to go over there because I'm not supposed to be having any contact with Edward and it _is _his house too…"

"But he won't _be _there."

"Charlie doesn't know that!"

"So tell him!"

I did nothing but bite my lip. "Oh, forget it Bella! I'm coming over tonight and I will convince Charlie to let you come over, okay?"

"Fine. But I really don't want to go to that party. Not without Edward."

"Didn't see that one coming," Rosalie said. I chose to ignore her.

"Looks like Bella won't be as lonely as you thought, Edward," Emmett said. "She might even meet a couple new guys and dump your ass!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Not likely," Edward said.

"Not possible," I corrected. He smiled at me and the bell signaling the end of lunch rang.

"Ugh. Saved by the bell!" said Emmett.

Everyone got up and left. Edward and I stayed behind to say goodbye, since we weren't sure if we could see each other again before he left.

He wrapped me up in his strong embrace.

"Try not to have too much fun without me," he said.

"I'm sure I won't have to try."

He laughed. "I'm sure it won't be that bad. Just a jock party. You'll fit right in," he teased.

I playfully smacked him on the arm.

"We should get to class. But I'm going to work on Charlie tonight."

He nodded. "Just don't get into more trouble."

"I won't."

He kissed me again, longer and more lingering.

"I love you. I'll miss you."

"I love you too. Have fun. And hurry back to me."

And with that, we went our separate ways.

LATER THAT NIGHT

I had the garlic bread out of the oven and the spaghetti was nice and warm when Charlie got home. Everything was perfectly set out on the table.

"Hey, Bells. Smells good."

"Thanks, dad. How was work?"

"Incredibly dull. And school?"

"It was good." We sat in silence for a couple moments.

"So, dad."

"Bells?" he looked up form his dinner expectantly, as if he knew what was coming.

"I wanted to talk to you. About… Edward."

"That boy? What about him?" he said with venom in his tone.

I sighed. "Dad, don't you think that I could see him? I mean, that day on the couch, we weren't doing anything. You know that, don't you?"

He kept his face stern and then he surrendered.

"Yes, I know that. It's just that… well I don't want boys over here when I'm not around."

"I know, that was all my fault. And it won't happen again."

"Alright, Bella. I'll let you see him. But only when I am here."

"Thank you so much dad! There's something else, too."

"What is it?" he asked wearily.

"I wanted permission to sleep over Alice's house tonight. There's this party and she wanted to go and then have me sleep over."

"Are you crazy? Alice is Edward's sister. You are not sleeping over your boyfriend's house!"

"No, no, no! Edward and his brother and dad aren't going to be there. They're all going out camping for the weekend."

He studied my face to see that I was being truthful. When he saw that I was, he moved on to the next question.

"Where is this party?"

"At a football player named Ryan Castillo's house."

"Will there be adult supervision?"

"To be honest, I don't think so. But it won't be anything wild. If it's crazy or something I'll definitely leave, but I doubt it will be."

I didn't think he would buy it, and I was hoping he wouldn't. I anticipated him to say the word "NO!" so that I could call Alice and tell her the "bad news".

"I trust you. You may go to this party. But don't stay out late, got it?"

My jaw dropped open. What kind of a father was he? Maybe I could lie to Alice and just tell her what my father would have said if he was in his right mind.

I forgot to respond. "Bells?"

I closed my mouth. "Uh, thanks. I'll go pack and… call Alice…"

"Alright Bells. Have a good time. And don't worry about the dishes tonight, I'll do them."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Go out and have fun."

An hour later, I was in Alice's bathroom, being violated in the very worst way. I had been attacked by an eyelash curler and smothered with lip gloss. She insisted on straightening my already straight hair.

"To take out the frizz."

"My hair is not frizzy!"

"Whatever, Bella."

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Don't you want to look good?"

"For who? Edward isn't even here!"

"So what? You still want to be desirable."

"Not by anyone but Edward."

"Oh, quit being such a pain and let me put some eyeliner on you."

This was the pattern of events, for the next TWO HOURS, as Alice threw an outfit at me and did my hair and makeup.

We arrived at the party an hour late, in order to "make it seem as if we have other things we could be doing, too," according to Alice.

Everywhere I looked, there was a couple making out or a football jersey, or someone bumping into another person.

"This is so crowded! What, is the entire school here?"

"A good chunk of it. Which isn't that impressive."

"But still intimidating. I don't know anyone."

"You don't need to! And besides, this is a good opportunity to _meet _people."

She dragged me over to a table where a bunch of football players were.

"Alice! What's up?" a huge one, bigger than Emmett, boomed.

"Nothing. This is a good party, Ryan."

"Thanks!" So this was his house? "And who is your friend?" he asked, obviously up and downing me.

I crossed my arms and then remembered that this would only enhance my cleavage.

I quickly dropped them.

"This is Bella."

Recognition flashed across his face. "Right! Bella, the new girl! You're the one who completely gave it to Lauren in the lunchroom!"

I frowned and didn't reply. Would I be known for that my entire life?

Ryan opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by a large boy who walked in with a keg.

"BEER!" Everyone cheered, scrambling over to begin the process of getting wasted.

"Alice! I told my dad there would be no alcohol! If he finds out, I'm dead!" I said.

She gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't know, really. We should leave, then. You ready to go?"

"Ahh, just let me go to the bathroom for a second, okay? I'll be down in a second."

"Sure. I'm just going to warm up the car. Meet me in there."

"Alright."

I somehow made my way through the crowded house and up the stairs. It was then that I realized that I had no idea where the bathroom was. I turned around to go back downstairs and ask someone. I did not want to risk walking in on something I didn't need to see in search for it.

But as soon as I did, I bumped in to someone. It was dark in the deserted hallway.

"Oops. Sorry." I said to the person I walked in to.

They did not respond. "Uh, do you know where the bathroom is?"

Again, no answer. I sighed and gave up. I was about to walk away when hands roughly pulled me back, covering my mouth to mute my gasp of surprise and then screams of help when they dragged me into one of the rooms off the hallway.

Helpless, I kicked and elbowed, but the person was much stronger than I was. I had no clue where I was. The hands released me but before I could make any other movements to escape, they pushed me to the floor again.

"HELP!" I managed to scream before he was sitting on top of me, knees on my chest so it was hard to breathe or say anything else. The figure reached behind and unbuttoned my jeans.

I started sobbing. How could this be happening? He pulled my jeans off and my underwear, too. I couldn't speak, I couldn't feel anything as I felt a sharp pain and him moving inside of me. Even my tears refused to come anymore as I lay there, numb to everything around me.

And then it was over, and he walked out of the room. That was it. I stayed where I was on the floor and thought about what just happened. Quickly, I put my jeans and underwear back on and cried.

CLIFFHANGER? IM SORRY. BUT HEY, THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER EVER. SO YOU HATE ME NOW, RIGHT?


	13. DEAR READERS: IMPORTANT!

Dear readers,

This is ILOVEYOUEDWARDCULLEN's sister. I am sorry to say that she got into an accident yesterday and she is in the hospital; we wont know how long she will be in for but she wanted me to let you all know that she didn't forget about you guys and that still plans to update as soon as she can get better…

Sorry from both of us,

LAM


	14. First Sleepover

I know. I haven't written in so long and I am so so so sorry. Yes, I had my hospital thing and thank you so much for everyone's comments and patience, but I obviously wasn't there this whole time… The truth is, and I am not trying to use this as an excuse and I am not sure if you even care,

But I did get involved in a relationship. I'm a freshman girl, and so you know how that goes. The entire time I wasn't myself and it made me insane, I even thought I might have been bipolar. But that relationship has since ended and now I have had a month to wallow over it, I think it's time to move on and get back to the way things were no matter what, and this is where I felt like I should begin. So if you are reading this now, or even wanting to continue reading my story, I really love you.

PS- You should read it and live vicariously through Bella and Edward's love, because for those of you who don't know, real guys ARENT LIKE THAT,

Thanks. On with the story, then.

I ran out of the house as fast as I could, finished sobbing in the empty and dark bedroom that I was left in… that my…rapist… had abandoned me in.

It felt completely insane, like an out of body experience. It hurt.

Alice was in the car, waiting for me. I got in and had barely sat down before she asked,

"Oh my god! Bella, what is it? What's happened? Are you okay?"

"No, Alice. I'm not okay. Can we please go home," I asked in a small, raspy voice.

"Of course," she said, and silently, we drove back to her house.

We climbed the stairs, which hurt a little, and went into her bedroom. She shut the door behind her and I knew she wouldn't let this go. But should I tell her? I knew that this was serious, but it was also embarrassing. Could I have done more to stop it? If only I hadn't gone to the bathroom, or the party at all… If only I hadn't let Alice make me up. Maybe someone had seen me at the party, followed me up the stairs and…

I had no clue what to do. My mind was racing.

"Bella. I am your best friend, and I know that something is wrong," Alice said. I hugged myself. She came and sat on the bed next to me.

"Please, Bella. What is it?"

Slowly, I lifted my head.

"Alice… I… I just got… raped." I managed to get out before I burst into tears.

There was a moment of shocked silence and all of a sudden, her arms were around me, and she was crying, too. We stayed like that for a few more minutes as she let me let everything out onto her shoulder.

"Bella, I am so sorry." I stayed silent.

"What exactly happened?"

More silence.

"You have to tell me, Bella," she pleaded.

"I was upstairs looking for the bathroom, and I couldn't see because it was dark and I bumped into somebody and they pulled me into a room."

"You have no idea who it was?"

"No."

"Well, we have to tell someone."

"Alice! No, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this!"

She looked at me with pity.

"No, Bella. You have tot ell somebody. If you don't, who knows how many more people will be raped by this guy? And you deserve justice. Besides… well… did he wear a condom?"

"I don't know! Okay! I don't know anything. Help me, Alice!"

"I am trying! But you really HAVE to tell someone… your dad, the police, Edward-"

"Oh no. Not Edward. He absolutely cannot know."

"Why not? What, do you think he'll be mad at you?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then what is your problem, Bella? He is your boyfriend, who you love, and besides, you won't want him to find out another way, do you?"

"Another way? There will be no other way for him to know."

"Bella, once you tell the police, there's a good chance people will know."

"This is unbelievable. I can't believe I let this happen to me."

"Bella. Look at me. This is not anywhere near being your fault, okay? We are going to go tell your dad when he gets home and you can tell Edward."

"I don't know, Alice."

"You have to."

"Okay. But you have to help me."

"I will."

"Thank you so much, Alice."

On Sunday when Emmett, Carlisle and Edward returned from they're trip, I raced into Edward's arms. He held me tight and kissed my forehead. I suddenly felt the urge to cry again.

"I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you too."

We went up to his room. "Edward… I need to talk to you about something."

He frowned. "What's up? Is everything alright?"

I paused. "I don't really know how to tell you this. But, you know about the party on Friday at Ryan's house?"

"Yeah… did you and Alice end up going? How was it?"

"I… was raped."

He blinked. Silence. And then the outburst,

"WHAT!? WHO DID IT? I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KILL THAT BASTARD! BELLA, ARE YOU OKAY?"

"Edward, Edward, I need you to calm down. Please, just… just hold me."

His eyes softened again and he took me into his arms.

"Are you going to be okay," he whispered again.

"I think I should go see a doctor… I don't think the guy who did it… I don't think it was safe."

I felt his grip tighten and he nodded.

"I'm glad you told me. I don't want you to ever hide anything like this from me. And I'll come with you."

"Thanks, Edward. I love you." I said.

"I love you so much, Bella."

And so that's it for this chapter. Once again, I apologize. I am so sorry.


	15. First Examination

Were you expecting another update so soon? From me, the procrastinating author with constant writers block? Of course not! Hehe…

Thanks so much to the people who reviewed, and added my story as a favorite =] I love you all!

I sat in my living room on the couch between Edward and Alice. Today Charlie was coming back from his fishing trip and I was going to tell him about what had happened to me on Friday night.

Edward and Alice were both here because I really needed them… I didn't think that I could do this on my own.

I heard the front door open and shut.

"Bells?" Charlie called out.

"I'm in the living room, dad."

A few moments later, he came in. When he saw Edward he frowned.

"What is he doing here? I don't want him here while I'm not, Bella."

"Dad, please. Just sit down… I need to talk to you."

Reluctantly, he took a seat in his favorite chair, a look of suspicion mixed with worry on his face.

"So, what is it?"

I hesitated. Edward squeezed my hand, reassuring me that I could do this. I looked from him to Alice and she nodded.

"Dad… Alice and I went to that party on Friday. And everything was okay until someone bought in a keg."

Charlie frowned and his mouth turned into a hard line. He didn't say anything, awaiting more. I went on.

"When we saw the keg we went to leave, but first I had to go to the bathroom. I was searching around for it but it was dark…" I paused to gather my mental strength.

"It was dark, and someone grabbed me from behind. I don't know who it was. They dragged me into a room and…" Unexpectedly, I broke into sobs. I thought that I could be strong enough to not do this. I choked on my words, but my sobs were the only things that came out.

Charlie got the picture and like everyone else, couldn't find the words to speak.

"Oh my god, Bella. I am so sorry. We are going to find this guy. Okay? I promise, honey. I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy." I got up to give him a huge hug.

I dried my eyes and stood up again. I held my head up. Yes, I could do this. I had to.

The next day, I stayed out of school. I had a doctor's appointment today after school let out, so Edward was going to come with me. The reason I stayed absent that day was because I was afraid.

There was a great chance that my rapist was somebody who walked the same halls as I did everyday. I would feel paranoid. Could it be somebody in my classes? Somebody I had never met before?

Did they know who I was? Maybe they heard a girls voice in that hallway and decided they wanted some fun. Some random girl.

Me.

I knew I had to go back tomorrow, though. I couldn't hide forever. At least they hadn't made anything public about it yet. Charlie had informed the others in his police station about my incident, and they were quietly figuring out what they could do to make my story less public once they started the search for the guy.

After school, Edward came over with my homework from school and a chocolate milkshake from Wendy's with whipped cream and a cherry, which he knew was my favorite.

"Thank you. How was school?"

"Agony. Besides your not being there, I felt like I could kill every guy I looked at. Knowing one of them could've been the one."

"Don't worry. The police are starting the investigation soon." I didn't tell him that my thoughts mirrored his.

He tried to smile a little, but I could still see that he wasn't very comforted by what I had said. "How was your day?"

I sighed. "Boring. I woke up at seven and I couldn't get back to sleep after that. So I read and watched tv. But I'm glad you're here now."

"Me too." He leaned down to give me a soft kiss, not sure how I would feel about this type of contact anymore. Some rape victims couldn't trust guys at all after, but I could never lose faith in Edward.

"So what time is your appointment?"

"It's at 3:00. So we should probably get ready to go now."

"Okay."

Edward drove in his Volvo to the doctors office.

I was the only girl there. Not many rapes in Forks. They let my go right into the office, but made Edward wait in the waiting room.

I wanted him to come anyway, but he just shook his head.

"It's okay. Go, I'll be here when you get back."

So, I followed the woman doctor into the examination room.

"I'm going to have to ask you some questions first, okay sweetie?"

I nodded, mentally preparing myself.

"Could you tell me exactly what happened?"

I took a deep breath and told her everything about that night. The entire time, she listened and was very understanding and kind.

"Was vaginal contact the only contact that you had with him? Was he kissing you, feeling you, etc.?"

"Not really, no."

She asked some more questions.

"Was a condom used?"

"I don't know…"

"Was this your first time having sex?"

"Yes."

"And so your hymen was definitely penetrated or had it been broken before?"

"I bled and it hurt really bad so I'm pretty sure that it was penetrated."

"Were there any weapons, did he hit you at all?"

"No, there weren't any weapons and he didn't hit me but he kept pushing and holding me down. And of course when he dragged me into the room…"

"Bella, since your not sure if a condom was used or not, pregnancy or disease is possible."

I nodded, not knowing what to say to that.

"Even when contraception is used, it is still a risk."

Next she performed the actual exam. She told me about all of the tests that they had to perform;

I had to take test, syphilis, hepatitis B, and HIV. They had to check for trichomonal vaginitis, bacterial vaginosis, gonorrhea and Chlamydia. And pregnancy. I would have to have follow up examinations since it was still early.

The doctor told me that there was not a lot of evidence because it had occurred on Friday and I had showered and changed since, plus it had been over thirty six hours. I wished I hadn't waited.

They gave me oral contraceptives when the pregnancy test came back negative. The other tests would take one or two weeks.

I was scared. Edward and I left and he asked me how it went.

"They said that I'm not pregnant but I would have to take some follow ups. And they took tests for STD's but I won't get those results for a couple weeks at the most."

He nodded. "Are you okay?"

I looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, I am. Thank you for being there for me, Edward. You have no idea how much you've helped me through this."

The next day, Charlie and I were eating dinner. "Bella, we are starting the investigation tomorrow."

I stopped eating. "What are you guys going to do?"

"Well, we're going to have to go to your school tomorrow and ask everyone who they saw at the party and if they saw anyone going upstairs. We just have a lot of questions to be asking."

"Will you tell them about why?"

"No. Not in the first series of interviews. If we find people with leads, we're going to have to explain the situation if necessary."

I kept quiet. I knew that they were doing all they could so that I wouldn't become the next school scandal, but I was still nervous.

"It will be okay, Bella. I promise you."

"Okay, dad. Thanks."

I hope that you guys liked the chapter. I did a lot of research on the topic of the procedure of the medical examination, but if I got some details wrong, I am so sorry. I had to rely on the internet. I hope that I got everything right…


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